It follows a November announcement that six others linked to the firm were served with notices to appear to face fraud and money laundering offences. It involved a number of search warrants executed at two Brisbane-based law firms and a number of business premises and private dwellings in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. 

It was alleged that at least four people charged in relation to Operation Mercury were involved in serious fraud offences against a number of financial institutions and that the money laundered was the proceeds of serious criminal offences. 

At the time, the commissions’ chairperson Alan MacSporran QC said the scale of the alleged offending identified during Operation Mercury demonstrates why the CCC has a continued focus on the enablers of major and organised crime. 

“The CCC has an investigative focus on not just those who directly engage in major crime, but those individuals and groups of people who facilitate and enable it. Sophisticated business models, specialised systems and expertise are needed for organised crime groups to operate effectively. It is disappointing and concerning some of the allegations relate to the legal profession,” he said. 

“The CCC will continue to direct its efforts on the systems and expertise that enable criminal networks to build and thrive by targeting those that enable and support serious criminal offending and to make Queensland a hostile place to engage in crime for profit and to accumulate criminal wealth.”